It is interesting that back in the earlier 2000's, when I wrote my Goddess word list, I included "optimism". It is such a duality-based word, and it seems to verge on being dependent on "luck" or "fortune", events and conditions outside ourselves. Are we optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Do we think that events will turn out for the best or the worst? There is an implication of powerlessness to the word, so I actually don't use it or like it very much.
Yet, there it is, in my handwriting, and I felt drawn to it today. So I guess I need to see why.
I think it may be because, based on everything going on right now, I am ultimately not optimistic about our current paradigm's ultimate success. (Of course, "success" in itself is basically a duality concept!) Our world is so heavily weighted in the direction of conflict, competition and violence, and most of those in leadership positions don't seem to have the tools to transform away from that model. Each day, I am reminded anew about how traumatizing modern life feels to someone like me. There are millions of us out there, and that fact gives me a bit of hope, but we don't seem to have much influence in places of power. So, no, I don't feel very optimistic that humanity's current path is leading inexorably to a better world.
What makes me optimistic? It won't come as much of a surprise if you have been reading this blog...the belief that a "return of the Goddess" is happening right now, and that these values of the divine feminine (which I am trying so imperfectly to discover and describe!) are absolutely necessary building blocks on the path to the future. Beauty makes me feel optimistic. Love makes me feel optimistic. Harmony and Unity make me feel optimistic. And it is wonderful to get to the point where I don't see these qualities as one side of a conflict divide. For me, they are all that is. At some point in the near or distant future, our world won't be in such pain, so that does make me optimistic!
